Dohaney’s debut album to chronicle six-year relationship

BIG DEBUT — Gander’s Madisan Dohaney’s first single, Silly Little Games, will be on her debut album, which she hopes will be available to buy before April.

The 17-year-old singer won the Gander Edition NewFound Talent Contest on Nov. 7, and since that time she’s been busy recording her first music video, first single, debut album, along with working full time and attending Gander Collegiate.

By finishing first, she received a two-song demo production including arrangement, recording, and mixing at The Citadel House, which is a $2,000 value; a website domain for a year duration, which is a $2,000 value; 100 complete retail ready demo packages, a $1,000 value; a music video production by Heavy Weather valued at $500; a performance opportunity at the 2013 MusicNL Industry Awards Brunch and the 2013 MusicNL Gala Lobby; and two tickets to the MusicNL Awards Gala, two tickets to CBC/MusicNL Songwriters Circle, and a MusicNL Student Membership.

“It was jaw-dropping…it was like, ‘How in the heck did I win this over everyone,’” she said with a laugh, when asked of her reaction to winning the award. “There was a lot of talent there, and the runner-up to me (Nicholas Sanders) was absolutely amazing.

“It means everything. It’s a career changer,” she added. “It’s still kind of fresh where I’m recording my demos and my EP (extended play), and that process is still going on so it’s all new to me, and still really exciting.”

She has already finished recording her single, Silly Little Games, and the video for that song, which was shot at the theatre in Hotel Gander, is also completed.

Shooting the video was an experience in itself, and she said it was finished in less than 20 minutes.

“It was instant. Everything has been instant,” she said. “Heavy Weather, who shot the video, is absolutely amazing…mind blowing. We went down in the theatre, they setup their microphone and their camera…and it was one take. Done. It took 18 minutes including setup.”

Time is just flying by for the talented musician, who’s hopeful her yet-to-be-named debut album will hit the shelves before April.

The album is about a relationship she was in for six years, a relationship that she ended.

It’ll have a pop and jazz feel to it, yet she said she tends to go all over the place at times.

Silly Little Games is also about that relationship.

“It’s (Silly Little Games) about the fact that when I was in the relationship I was madly in love, apparently, but then I decided to end it because I got tired of the fights and the lies,” she said. “At the end of it, I kind of felt like the person that was messing up all the time and that I lost my best friend and the person I loved. Then I realized I did my best in the relationship and he was the one that lost out.”

She’s also hoping to have a song on her album that she’s currently co-writing with Nicholas. She’s a big fan of his work, and said the process of writing a song with him has been similar to the process she goes through with her pianist and instructor, Leslie Hewlett, of Beyond the Overpass Theatre Company.

“I like to show my stories and my emotions through my music so other people can feel the same way, and feel like they’re not alone.”Madisan Dohaney

“It’s actually kind of easy. Some people find it hard, but I don’t know, Leslie and me do it right,” she said. “I’ll go to a lesson, and it just kind of happens. Even for writing Silly Little Games, I literally went to a lesson and Leslie said, ‘So, we’re going to enter this contest…and you can write your own song.’ We sat down during that lesson, she started playing music, and I started singing. That’s how it happens every time.”

“I’m kind of there as a guide. She has an idea for a song, whether it’s happy or sad. For Silly Little Games, she wanted something dark, moody, something minor cords on the piano,” said Ms. Hewlett. “She said, ‘Do something dark because I have something in my head.’ I played a couple of cords, and then she asked for another note, then another. I’m there to help her, and this is definitely her work and her song, but we make a good team.”

Emotional Process

Although she’s only 17, one would get the feeling that Madisan has been singing her heart out at jazz and blue clubs for decades by listening to her single.

She was in a relationship for six years, and since writing about that time through song, has found that she feels much better now, and is even more open about that six-year relationship. Afterall, even Madisan said she isn’t exactly the type of person who goes to her friends to complain about something that’s happening in her life.

“It’s kind of my process to get over it and a way to get my feelings across,” she said. “I’m not the type of girl to go to my friends and complain about everything. I like to show my stories and my emotions through my music so other people can feel the same way, and feel like they’re not alone.

“I’m not as sad anymore, and I can talk about it more easily. I can write happy songs now, and I can think back to some of the happier memories we had. It’s been hectic because I have school, I’m literally working all the time, I (had) midterms, and I have to go out of town for recording. I don’t really have any breaks, but I love what I’m doing, and music is really important to me.”